Section I Use of English
Directions:
Read the following text. Choose the best word(s) for each numbered blank and mark A, B, C or D on ANSWER SHEET 1. (10 points)
The ethical judgments of the Supreme Court justices have become an important issue recently. The court cannot 1 its legitimacy as guardian of the rule of law 2 justices behave like politicians. Yet, in several instances, justices acted in ways that 3 the court’s reputation for being independent and impartial.
Justice Antonin Scalia, for example, appeared at political events. That kind of activity makes it less likely that the court’s decisions will be 4 as impartial judgments. Part of the problem is that the justices are not 5 by an ethics code. At the very least, the court should make itself 6 to the code of conduct that 7 to the rest of the federal judiciary.
This and other similar cases 8 the question of whether there is still a 9 between the court and politics.
The framers of the Constitution envisioned law 10 having authority apart from politics. They gave justices permanent positions 11 they would be free to 12 those in power and have no need to 13 political support. Our legal system was designed to set law apart from politics precisely because they are so closely 14 .
Constitutional law is political because it results from choices rooted in fundamental social 15 like liberty and property. When the court deals with social policy decisions, the law it 16 is inescapably political---which is why decisions split along ideological lines are so easily 17 as unjust.
The justices must 18 doubts about the court’s legitimacy by making themselves 19 to the code of conduct. That would make rulings more likely to be seen as separate from politics and, 20 , convincing as law.
1. [A]emphasize [B]maintain [C]modify [D] recognize
2. [A]when [B]lest [C]before [D] unless
3. [A]restored [B]weakened [C]established [D] eliminated
4. [A]challenged [B]compromised [C]suspected [D] accepted
5. [A]advanced [B]caught [C]bound [D]founded
6. [A]resistant [B]subject [C]immune [D]prone
7. [A]resorts [B]sticks [C]loads [D]applies
8. [A]evade [B]raise [C]deny [D]settle
9. [A]line [B]barrier [C]similarity [D]conflict
10. [A]by [B]as [C]though [D]towards
11. [A]so [B]since [C]provided [D]though
12. [A]serve [B]satisfy [C]upset [D]replace
13. [A]confirm [B]express [C]cultivate [D]offer
14. [A]guarded [B]followed [C]studied [D]tied
15. [A]concepts [B]theories [C]divisions [D]conceptions
16. [A]excludes [B]questions [C]shapes [D]controls
17. [A]dismissed [B]released [C]ranked [D]distorted
18. [A]suppress [B]exploit [C]address [D]ignore
19. [A]accessible [B]amiable [C]agreeable [D]accountable
20. [A]by all means [B]at all costs [C]in a word [D]as a result
Section II Reading Comprehension
Part A
Directions:
Read the following four texts. Answer the questions below each text by choosing A, B, C or D. Mark your answers on ANSWER SHEET 1. (40 points)
2012 Text 1
Come on---Everybody’s doing it. That whispered message, half invitation and half forcing, is what most of us think of when we hear the words peer pressure. It usually leads to no good-drinking, drugs and casual sex. But in her new book Join the Club, Tina Rosenberg contends that peer pressure can also be a positive force through what she calls the social cure, in which organizations and officials use the power of group dynamics to help individuals improve their lives and possibly the world.
Rosenberg, the recipient of a Pulitzer Prize, offers a host of example of the social cure in action: In South Carolina, a state-sponsored antismoking program called Rage Against the Haze sets out to make cigarettes uncool. In South Africa, an HIV-prevention initiative known as LoveLife recruits young people to promote safe sex among their peers.
The idea seems promising，and Rosenberg is a perceptive observer. Her critique of the lameness of many pubic-health campaigns is spot-on: they fail to mobilize peer pressure for healthy habits, and they demonstrate a seriously flawed understanding of psychology.” Dare to be different, please don’t smoke!” pleads one billboard campaign aimed at reducing smoking among teenagers---teenagers, who desire nothing more than fitting in. Rosenberg argues convincingly that public-health advocates ought to take a page from advertisers, so skilled at applying peer pressure.
But on the general effectiveness of the social cure, Rosenberg is less persuasive. Join the Club is filled with too much irrelevant detail and not enough exploration of the social and biological factors that make peer pressure so powerful. The most glaring flaw of the social cure as it’s presented here is that it doesn’t work very well for very long. Rage Against the Haze failed once state funding was cut. Evidence that the LoveLife program produces lasting changes is limited and mixed.
There’s no doubt that our peer groups exert enormous influence on our behavior. An emerging body of research shows that positive health habits---as well as negative ones---spread through networks of friends via social communication. This is a subtle form of peer pressure: we unconsciously imitate the behavior we see every day.
Far less certain, however, is how successfully experts and bureaucrats can select our peer groups and steer their activities in virtuous directions. It’s like the teacher who breaks up the troublemakers in the back row by pairing them with better-behaved classmates. The tactic never really works. And that’s the problem with a social cure engineered from the outside: in the real world, as in school, we insist on choosing our own friends.
21. According to the first paragraph, peer pressure often emerges as
[A] a supplement to the social cure
[B] a stimulus to group dynamics
[C] an obstacle to school progress
[D] a cause of undesirable behaviors
22. Rosenberg holds that public advocates should
[A] recruit professional advertisers
[B] learn from advertisers’ experience
[C] stay away from commercial advertisers
[D] recognize the limitations of advertisements
23. In the author’s view, Rosenberg’s book fails to
[A] adequately probe social and biological factors
[B] effectively evade the flaws of the social cure
[C] illustrate the functions of state funding
[D]produce a long-lasting social effect
24. Paragraph 5 shows that our imitation of behaviors
[A] is harmful to our networks of friends
[B] will mislead behavioral studies
[C] occurs without our realizing it
[D] can produce negative health habits
25. The author suggests in the last paragraph that the effect of peer pressure is
[A] harmful [B] desirable
[C] profound [D] questionable
2012 Text 2
A deal is a deal—except, apparently, when Entergy is involved. The company, a major energy supplier in New England, provoked justified outrage in Vermont last week when it announced it was reneging on a longstanding commitment to abide by the strict nuclear regulations.
Instead, the company has done precisely what it had long promised it would not challenge the constitutionality of Vermont’s rules in the federal court, as part of a desperate effort to keep its Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant running. It’s a stunning move.
The conflict has been surfacing since 2002, when the corporation bought Vermont’s only nuclear power plant, an aging reactor in Vernont. As a condition of receiving state approval for the sale, the company agreed to seek permission from state regulators to operate past 2012. In 2006, the state went a step further, requiring that any extension of the plant’s license be subject to Vermont legislature’s approval. Then, too, the company went along.
Either Entergy never really intended to live by those commitments, or it simply didn’t foresee what would happen next. A string of accidents, including the partial collapse of a cooling tower in 2007 and the discovery of an underground pipe system leakage, raised serious questions about both Vermont Yankee’s safety and Entergy’s management—especially after the company made misleading statements about the pipe. Enraged by Entergy’s behavior, the Vermont Senate voted 26 to 4 last year against allowing an extension.
Now the company is suddenly claiming that the 2002 agreement is invalid because of the 2006 legislation, and that only the federal government has regulatory power over nuclear issues. The legal issues in the case are obscure; the Supreme Court has ruled that states do have some regulatory authority over nuclear power, but legal scholars say the Vermont case will offer a precedent-setting test of how far those powers extend. Certainly, there are valid concerns about the patchwork regulations that could result if every state sets its own rules. But had Entergy kept its word, that debate would be beside the point.
The company seems to have concluded that its reputation in Vermont is already so battered that it has nothing left to lose by going to war with the state. But there should be consequences. Permission to run a nuclear plant is a public trust. Entergy runs 11 other reactors in the United States, including Pilgrim Nuclear station in Plymouth. Vowing to run Pilgrim safely, the company has applied for federal permission to keep it open for another 20 years. But as the Nuclear Regulatory Commission reviews the company’s application, it should keep in mind what promises from Entergy are worth.
26. The phrase “reneging on”(Line 3. Para.1) is closest in meaning to
[A] condemning. [B] reaffirming.
[C] dishonoring. [D] securing.
27. By entering into the 2002 agreement, Entergy intended to
[A] obtain protection from Vermont regulators.
[B] seek favor from the federal legislature.
[C] acquire an extension of its business license .
[D] get permission to purchase a power plant.
28. According to Paragraph 4, Entergy seems to have problems with its
[A] managerial practices. [B] technical innovativeness.
[C] financial goals. [D] business vision
29. In the author’s view, the Vermont case will test
[A] Entergy’s capacity to fulfill all its promises.
[B] the mature of states’ patchwork regulations.
[C] the federal authority over nuclear issues .
[D] the limits of states’ power over nuclear issues.
30. It can be inferred from the last paragraph that
[A] Entergy’s business elsewhere might be affected.
[B] the authority of the NRC will be defied.
[C] Entergy will withdraw its Plymouth application.
[D] Vermont’s reputation might be damaged.
2012 Text 3
In the idealized version of how science is done, facts about the world are waiting to be observed and collected by objective researchers who use the scientific method to carry out their work. But in the everyday practice of science, discovery frequently follows an ambiguous and complicated route. We aim to be objective, but we cannot escape the context of our unique life experience. Prior knowledge and interest influence what we experience, what we think our experiences mean, and the subsequent actions we take. Opportunities for misinterpretation, error, and self-deception abound.
Consequently, discovery claims should be thought of as protoscience. Similar to newly staked mining claims, they are full of potential. But it takes collective scrutiny and acceptance to transform a discovery claim into a mature discovery. This is the credibility process, through which the individual researcher’s me, here, now becomes the community’s anyone, anywhere, anytime. Objective knowledge is the goal, not the starting point.
Once a discovery claim becomes public, the discoverer receives intellectual credit. But, unlike with mining claims, the community takes control of what happens next. Within the complex social structure of the scientific community, researchers make discoveries; editors and reviewers act as gatekeepers by controlling the publication process; other scientists use the new finding to suit their own purposes; and finally, the public (including other scientists) receives the new discovery and possibly accompanying technology. As a discovery claim works it through the community, the interaction and confrontation between shared and competing beliefs about the science and the technology involved transforms an individual’s discovery claim into the community’s credible discovery.
Two paradoxes exist throughout this credibility process. First, scientific work tends to focus on some aspect of prevailing knowledge that is viewed as incomplete or incorrect. Little reward accompanies duplication and confirmation of what is already known and believed. The goal is new-search, not re-search. Not surprisingly, newly published discovery claims and credible discoveries that appear to be important and convincing will always be open to challenge and potential modification or refutation by future researchers. Second, novelty itself frequently provokes disbelief. Nobel Laureate and physiologist Albert Szent-Györgyi once described discovery as “seeing what everybody has seen and thinking what nobody has thought.” But thinking what nobody else has thought and telling others what they have missed may not change their views. Sometimes years are required for truly novel discovery claims to be accepted and appreciated.
In the end, credibility “happens” to a discovery claim—a process that corresponds to what philosopher Annette Baier has described as the commons of the mind. “We reason together, challenge, revise, and complete each other’s reasoning and each other’s conceptions of reason.”
31. According to the first paragraph, the process of discovery is characterized by its
[A] uncertainty and complexity. [B] misconception and deceptiveness.
[C] logicality and objectivity. [D] systematicness and regularity.
32. It can be inferred from Paragraph 2 that credibility process requires
[A] strict inspection. [B]shared efforts.
[C] individual wisdom. [D]persistent innovation.
33. Paragraph 3 shows that a discovery claim becomes credible after it
[A] has attracted the attention of the general public.
[B] has been examined by the scientific community.
[C] has received recognition from editors and reviewers.
[D] has been frequently quoted by peer scientists.
34. Albert Szent-Györgyi would most likely agree that
[A] scientific claims will survive challenges.
[B] discoveries today inspire future research.
[C] efforts to make discoveries are justified.
[D] scientific work calls for a critical mind.
35. Which of the following would be the best title of the test?
[A] Novelty as an Engine of Scientific Development.
[B] Collective Scrutiny in Scientific Discovery.
[C] Evolution of Credibility in Doing Science.
[D] Challenge to Credibility at the Gate to Science.
2012 Text 4
If the trade unionist Jimmy Hoffa were alive today, he would probably represent civil servant. When Hoffa’s Teamsters were in their prime in 1960, only one in ten American government workers belonged to a union; now 36% do. In 2009 the number of unionists in America’s public sector passed that of their fellow members in the private sector. In Britain, more than half of public-sector workers but only about 15% of private-sector ones are unionized.
There are three reasons for the public-sector unions’ thriving. First, they can shut things down without suffering much in the way of consequences. Second, they are mostly bright and well-educated. A quarter of America’s public-sector workers have a university degree. Third, they now dominate left-of-centre politics. Some of their ties go back a long way. Britain’s Labor Party, as its name implies, has long been associated with trade unionism. Its current leader, Ed Miliband, owes his position to votes from public-sector unions.
At the state level their influence can be even more fearsome. Mark Baldassare of the Public Policy Institute of California points out that much of the state’s budget is patrolled by unions. The teachers’ unions keep an eye on schools, the CCPOA on prisons and a variety of labor groups on health care.
In many rich countries average wages in the state sector are higher than in the private one. But the real gains come in benefits and work practices. Politicians have repeatedly “backloaded” public-sector pay deals, keeping the pay increases modest but adding to holidays and especially pensions that are already generous.
Reform has been vigorously opposed, perhaps most egregiously in education, where charter schools, academies and merit pay all faced drawn-out battles. Even though there is plenty of evidence that the quality of the teachers is the most important variable, teachers’ unions have fought against getting rid of bad ones and promoting good ones.
As the cost to everyone else has become clearer, politicians have begun to clamp down. In Wisconsin the unions have rallied thousands of supporters against Scott Walker, the hardline Republican governor. But many within the public sector suffer under the current system, too.
John Donahue at Harvard’s Kennedy School points out that the norms of culture in Western civil services suit those who want to stay put but is bad for high achievers. The only American public-sector workers who earn well above $250,000 a year are university sports coaches and the president of the United States. Bankers’ fat pay packets have attracted much criticism, but a public-sector system that does not reward high achievers may be a much bigger problem for America.
36. It can be learned from the first paragraph that
[A] Teamsters still have a large body of members.
[B] Jimmy Hoffa used to work as a civil servant.
[C] unions have enlarged their public-sector membership.
[D] the government has improved its relationship with unionists.
37. Which of the following is true of Paragraph 2?
[A] Public-sector unions are prudent in taking actions.
[B] Education is required for public-sector union membership.
[C] Labor Party has long been fighting against public-sector unions.
[D] Public-sector unions seldom get in trouble for their actions.
38. It can be learned from Paragraph 4 that the income in the state sector is
[A] illegally secured. [B] indirectly augmented.
[C] excessively increased. [D]fairly adjusted.
39. The example of the unions in Wisconsin shows that unions
[A] often run against the current political system.
[B] can change people’s political attitudes.
[C] may be a barrier to public-sector reforms.
[D] are dominant in the government.
40. John Donahue’s attitude towards the public-sector system is one of
[A] disapproval. [B] appreciation.
[C] tolerance. [D] indifference.
Part B
Directions:
In the following text, some sentences have been removed. For Questions 41-45, choose the most suitable one from the list A-G to fit into each of the numbered blanks. There are two extra choices, which do not fit in any of the blanks. Mark your answers on ANSWER SHEET1.（10 points）
Think of those fleeting moments when you look out of an aeroplane window and realize that you are flying, higher than a bird. Now think of your laptop, thinner than a brown-paper envelope, or your cell phone in the palm of your hand. Take a moment or two to wonder at those marvels. You are the lucky inheritor of a dream come true.
The second half of the 20th century saw a collection of geniuses, warriors, entrepreneurs and visionaries labor to create a fabulous machine that could function as a typewriter and printing press, studio and theatre, paintbrush and gallery, piano and radio, the mail as well as the mail carrier. (41)______________________________________.
The networked computer is an amazing device, the first media machine that serves as the mode of production, means of distribution, site of reception, and place of praise and critique. The computer is the 21st century's culture machine.
But for all the reasons there are to celebrate the computer, we must also tread with caution. (42) ______________________________________.I call it a secret war for two reasons. First, most people do not realize that there are strong commercial agendas at work to keep them in passive consumption mode. Second, the majority of people who use networked computers to upload are not even aware of the significance of what they are doing.
All animals download, but only a few upload. Beavers build dams and birds make nests. Yet for the most part, the animal kingdom moves through the world downloading. Humans are unique in their capacity to not only make tools but then turn around and use them to create superfluous material goods---paintings, sculpture and architecture and superfluous experiences---music, literature, religion and philosophy. (43) ______________________________________.
For all the possibilities of our new culture machines, most people are still stuck in download mode. Even after the advent of widespread social media, a pyramid of production remains, with a small number of people uploading material, a slightly larger group commenting on or modifying that content, and a huge percentage remaining content to just consume. (44) _________________.
Television is a one-way tap flowing into our homes. The hardest task that television asks of anyone is to turn the power off after they have turned it on. (45) ___________________________.
What counts as meaningful uploading? My definition revolves around the concept of "stickiness" - creations and experiences to which others adhere.
[A] Of course, it is precisely these superfluous things that define human culture and ultimately what it is to be human. Downloading and consuming culture requires great skills, but failing to move beyond downloading is to strip oneself of a defining constituent of humanity.
[B] Applications like tumblr.com, which allow users to combine pictures, words and other media in creative ways and then share them, have the potential to add stickiness by amusing, entertaining and enlightening others.
[C] Not only did they develop such a device but by the turn of the millennium they had also managed to embed it in a worldwide system accessed by billions of people every day.
[D] This is because the networked computer has sparked a secret war between downloading and uploading---between passive consumption and active creation---whose outcome will shape our collective future in ways we can only begin to imagine.
[E] The challenge the computer mounts to television thus bears little similarity to one format being replaced by another in the manner of record players being replaced by CD players.
[F] One reason for the persistence of this pyramid of production is that for the past half-century, much of the world's media culture has been defined by a single medium---television---and television is defined by downloading.
[G] The networked computer offers the first chance in 50 years to reverse the flow, to encourage thoughtful downloading and, even more importantly, meaningful uploading.
Part C
Directions:
Read the following text carefully and then translate the underlined segments into Chinese. Your translation should be written clearly on ANSWER SHEET 2. (10 points)
Since the days of Aristotle, a search for universal principles has characterized the scientific enterprise. In some ways, this quest for commonalities defines science. Newton’s laws of motion and Darwinian evolution each bind a host of different phenomena into a single explicatory framework.
(46) In physics, one approach takes this impulse for unification to its extreme, and seeks a theory of everything—a single generative equation for all we see. It is becoming less clear, however, that such a theory would be a simplification, given the dimensions and universes that it might entail, nonetheless, unification of sorts remains a major goal.
This tendency in the natural sciences has long been evident in the social sciences too. (47) Here, Darwinism seems to offer justification for it: all humans share common origins; it seems reasonable to suppose that cultural diversity could also be traced to more constrained beginnings. Just as the bewildering variety of human courtship rituals might all be considered forms of sexual selection, perhaps the world’s languages, music, social and religious customs and even history are governed by universal features. (48) To filter out what is unique from what is shared might enable us to understand how complex cultural behavior arose and what guides it in evolutionary or cognitive terms.
That, at least, is the hope. But a comparative study of linguistic traits published online today supplies a reality check. Russell Gray at the University of Auckland and his colleagues consider the evolution of grammars in the light of two previous attempts to find universality in language.
The most famous of these efforts was initiated by Noam Chomsky, who suggested that humans are born with an innate language—acquisition capacity that dictates a universal grammar. A few generative rules are then sufficient to unfold the entire fundamental structure of a language, which is why children can learn it so quickly.
(49) The second, by Joshua Greenberg, takes a more empirical approach to universality, identifying traits (particularly in word order) shared by many language which are considered to represent biases that result from cognitive constraints
Gray and his colleagues have put them to the test by examining four family trees that between them represent more than 2,000 languages. (50) Chomsky’s grammar should show patterns of language change that are independent of the family tree or the pathway tracked through it. Whereas Greenbergian universality predicts strong co-dependencies between particular types of word-order relations. Neither of these patterns is borne out by the analysis, suggesting that the structures of the languages are lineage-specific and not governed by universals.
Section III Writing
Part A
51. Directions:
Some international students are coming to your university. Write them an email in the name of the Students’ Union to
1) extend your welcome and
2) provide some suggestions for their campus life here.
You should write about 100 words on ANSWER SHEET2. Do not sign your name at the end of the letter. Use “Li Ming” instead.
Do not write the address (10 points)
Part B
52. Directions: write an essay of 160-200 words based on the following drawing. In your essay you should
1) describe the drawing briefly
2) explain its intended meaning, and
3) give your comments
You should write neatly on ANSWER SHEET2.（20 points）
附阅读Part A翻译：
译文 1
2009年纽约交响乐团突然宣布聘用艾伦•吉尔伯特为下一位乐曲指挥，从那时起一直到现在，这次任命都成为古典音乐界的话题。退一步说，从总体上看，反应还是不错的。如冷静的古典音乐评论家安东尼•托姆西尼就这样写：从长时间来看，这次委命是英明的。
然而，这次任命还是令人意外。原因之一在于吉乐伯特名声相对较小。就连那时主张雇用吉尔伯特的托姆西尼，也称吉尔伯特其貌不扬，缺乏一位令人敬仰的指挥大师的气质。作为对这个很牛的管弦乐队（牛的表现：到目前为止一直被牛人领导着）下一任指挥家的描述，这种描述跟虚浮的赞扬一样，确实会令至少一部分泰晤士报的读者觉得愕然不解（让他们觉得不可思议）。
就我的观点而言，我不知道吉尔伯特是不是一位伟大的指挥家，甚至连他是不是算好的指挥家也不敢确定。可以确信的是，虽然他演出了很多令人印象深刻的有趣的乐曲。然而，我不需要访问Avery Fisher Hall（可能是纽约交响乐团所在地，即吉尔伯特表演之所），或者其他地方才能听到有趣的管弦乐。（作者意思是，不需要听吉尔伯特，到处可以听到有趣的管弦乐。）我所做的，只需要到我的CD棚里去，随便打开我的电脑，从ITUNES上就可下载比那（当指吉尔伯特表演的）多得多的类似的音乐。
对于唱片，那些专门参加音乐会的人会说，现场表演是不可替代的。他们显然忽视了一个要点。为了替音乐爱好者节省时间、精力、金钱考虑，古典乐曲表演表不仅要在各种表演场所进行竞争，还要在记录这些行为的媒介上竞争。记在唱片上的表演比现场表演更便宜，更易得，甚至质量更好。而且它们的消费时间地点可以任由听者选择。因此，这种唱片的广泛应用，给传统音乐会带来了生存危机。
一个可能的应对方式（解决办法）是古典音乐表演者发明有吸引力的从唱片上听不到的曲子。吉尔伯特在新音乐方面投入了自己的兴趣，这已广被人知：如古典音乐评论家罗斯就把吉尔伯特描述成一个可以扭转交响乐方向的人，认为他把交响乐带进了一个明显不同的更有活力的天地。但是，这种“不同”的实质是什么呢？仅仅扩展交响乐的节目是不够的。吉尔伯特和交响乐要想取得成功，必须首先改变美国旧的管弦乐和它们想吸引的新的听众之间的关系。
译文 2
当列姆•麦克杰八月份从美国银行任上离职时，他的解释确实令人意外。与通常会用的模糊理由不同的是，他直率地说，他离开是为了找一家公司当管理者，而那是他一向就有的追求。他说，作出这一选择纯属个人原因。两周之内，他与哈佛财务服务集团的董事会实现了首次会谈，这一集团在9月29日聘他担任CEO。
麦克杰说，他离开时并没有确定的目标，这使他得以思考自己究竟想管理什么样的公司。这同时也可以让他向外界展示自己的魄力。无独有偶（并不只有他才有这种雄心）。最近几周，雅芳公司和美国联邦快递公司的第二执行官都离开自己的公司，他们的解释都是想当CEO。由于股东施压，董事会需要审查继承人方案，还没有被准许离开的这几位执行官肯定希望事情早点出来结果。商业环境复杂异常，这使得高级经理人员不愿用模糊的声明来损害自己的名声。
随着经济开始出现复苏的迹象，这些希望离任者可能在还没有找到下家时就跳槽。根据“登记册”研究机构的报告，在第三季度，CEO营业额从一年前开始下降了23%，把那些紧跟在这些领导人身后的董事会也弄得神经兮兮。由于经济复苏，那些有抱负的领导人将大有机会。
放弃高级职位去寻找更好的职位，这种决定是非同寻常的，过去可不常见。多年来，执行官和猎头们都坚持认为，最好的CEO候选人需要去挖别人的墙角才能得到（而不是那些主动离开原岗位的人）。某某猎头说，当董事会还没有委托我先去找一个还在任上的CEO时，我不能去考虑那些我在网上一搜就有的人。
那些没有工作去向就跳槽的人不会总是很快找到理想岗位。十年前爱伦•马拉姆从T公司领导人的位子上退下，也是为了当一个CEO。一年前她才成为一家小型电子交易所的领导人。罗伯特在2005年为了当CEO而离开，他最终在一家重要的财务机构找到这种工作是在三年之后。
许多招聘人表示，对于那些最好的演员来说，旧的耻辱正在淡忘。财务危机使得在两个工作机会之间进行选择或者离开更坏的工作这样的行为变得可以接受。“传统规则是，最好呆在你原来的地方，但现在这种规则被从根本上颠覆了。” 一个猎头说，“在一个地方呆得越久，就越容易受损。”
译文3
在过去，销售成功的基本法则是：种瓜得瓜，一分耕耘一分收获。现在不同了。传统的付出方式（媒介，指企业付钱给电视台做广告或者报社做报刊广告）——电视购物和印刷广告——虽然仍占主要地位，但是现在的企业可以开发出更多的替代这些媒介的形式。对产品有热情的用户可能通过给在自己网站上注册的顾客发关于产品和商品的电邮的提醒，来建立自己的媒介。这样用户现在接近了广阔的媒介因素，这些因素超越了传统的付费媒介。
付费并占有的媒介，是被想促销自己产品的商人控制的。而对于白捡的媒介（免费的媒介报道）而言，这种商人的角色仅是作为响应用户需求的第一环（直接面对用户的不是他们）。但是在一些案例中，一个商人拥有的媒介成为另一个商人的付费媒介（但有时候，促销产品的商人也直接面对用户，即把别人占有的媒介暂时变成自己占有的媒介）。例如，当一个电子商务零售商在自己的网站上出售广告空间时，就是如此。我们把这种出售的媒介定义为拥有的媒介。这种（出售空间式的）拥有的媒介是如此强大普遍，以致于其他团体把他们的希望（满意；内容；电子商务发动机）寄托在这种环境中。这种（寄托）趋势虽然依然在婴儿期，但我们相信这种从零售商和旅行提供商（如航空公司、旅馆）有效起步的趋势会越来越强劲。例如强生建立了一个婴儿中心，这是一种杰出的媒介资产，可用于推销提升配套产品，包括那些有竞争力的产品。除了带来利润，除了由于其他商人的到场可以使这个地方显得客观可信，以及给各个公司有机会了解有关其他公司需求的有价值的信息，还能有利于拓展所有公司都关心的用户交易。
这类戏剧性的技术革新给商人带来数量越来越多（种类也越来越多）的通信机会的同时，也同样会提高风险。因为热情的用户会更快、更形象、更有破坏力地表达自己的反对，这种被绑架的媒介，与上述的免费利用的媒介背道而驰（不是商人所希望出现的）。此时，媒介就像人质一样，成为敌人可用的财产或者发起的一次行动（敌人有用户、其他竞争对手、对某商标或产品向来没有好话的社会活动家）。例如，社会网络中的成员正在意识到他们可以绑架媒介，来对建立媒介的那些商人施加压力。
如果这种事情发生了，热情的用户就会努力劝说其他人抵制产品，使得目标公司声名处于危险之中。此时，公司的反应往往不会足够快，也不会足够理性，学习曲线将会变得很陡（学习曲线是表示单位产品生产时间与所生产的产品总数量之间的关系的一条曲线。一般情况下，产品总量越大，单个产品生产时间越短。也可以表示工人一定时间所犯错误数量与练习时间的关系，一般练习时间越长，单位时间内错误越少。这里的曲线陡时大约表示相同产量规模下，现在比原来单个产品所消耗的资源更多，或者说相同练习程度下，一定时间错误更多。总之，是比原来更糟糕了）。例如丰田汽车，今年早些时候通过相对来说较快和精心策划的行动从车辆召回危机中把损尽量降下来，丰田的行动包括努力请用户进土威特这样的地方，挖掘社会新闻的利用等等。
译文 4
毫无疑问，作为有煸动性的杂志封面故事，詹尼弗西尼尔的深刻见解——“我爱我的孩子们，我讨厌我目前的生活状况”——可以唤起人们的谈兴。可是，人们不会想到，养孩子可不是一件完全令人愉悦、生活充实的事情。西尼尔并没有简单地说，孩子使得父母既快乐又痛苦。她建议，我们需要重新定义幸福：幸福不应该像过去那样被定义为由一个个瞬间的快乐组合而成的东西；我们应该把幸福视为一种过去的状态。尽管抚养孩子的日子漫长难熬，令人筋疲力尽，但是西尼尔认为，正是那些心绪沉重的时刻，日后却给我们带来由衷的欣喜。
杂志封面上一位有魅力的母亲抱着一个可爱的婴儿，这种圣母与圣子的图画这周在报摊上可不止西尼尔这一起。例如杂志上讲到最近刚收养孩子的母亲——有时是刚变成单身母亲的人——桑德拉布鲁克，以及那种很常见的“詹尼弗阿尼斯顿怀孕了”的新闻。实际上，每周都有至少一位名流母亲、或者准母亲在杂志上笑迎读者。
在一个坚持不懈地倡导生育的社会中，承认自己后悔生育孩子就相当于承认自己赞同谋杀宠物猫，这难道不值得反思吗？把父母亲的后悔与孩子的后悔相提并论（可能指把作为孩子家长的那种辛苦产生的悔恨理解为根源出在孩子身上，从而产生关于生下孩子的后悔），这显然并不合理。（因此）不情愿养孩子的父母很少会反思自己是否应该养育孩子。但是那不幸福的无孩子的人却为类似“孩子是世上唯一最可珍惜的东西”这样的信息所烦恼。显然，他们的不幸必须通过生儿育女才能得以消除。
当然，在美国周刊与人这样的杂志上所提供的“社会名流父母亲”现象是不切实际的。特别是当“父母亲”是布鲁克这样的单身母亲时更是如此。多项研究表明，有孩子的父母很少比没有孩子的夫妇更快乐，而单亲家庭中的家长烦愁尤甚。这并不奇怪，因为一个人养一个孩子实在太麻烦了。然而，你看看桑德拉和布列尼说的话：自己“一个人”养孩子，其实非常简单。（她们当然觉得简单了，因为她们是在周围人全天候的帮助下养着孩子的。）
当然，要说很多人傻头傻脑地生育孩子，只是因为里斯和安格丽娜这种名流使这种行为看上去显得诱人，这也是不可能的——多数成年人其实理解：养孩子可不是像做个发型那么简单。但是这确实是一件很有趣的值得反思的事情：我们每周看的“轻松快乐做父母”的杂志封面，并不是通过潜意识的方式里让我们对（没有孩子的）现实经历不满，而是这些图片在潜意识中让我们有那种想成为雷切尔的心理，但实际上却使得我们看上去有点像詹尼弗亚尼斯顿。（大约指雷切尔养孩子显得潇洒，而詹尼弗生养孩子显得狼狈。）
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